The present invention is in the field of painting accessories. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a trolley for a paint tray to permit a painter to easily move the tray from place to place without having to stoop and pick it up.
Professional painters and the more experienced do-it-yourselfers use 1 gallon paint trays, rather than the smaller 1 quart variety. When doing a big job, the workman is able to spend more time painting walls, ceilings, etc., and less time opening and resealing cans. In addition, the painting professional utilizes an extensible handle for her/his roller and stands on the floor so as to avoid climbing up and down a ladder. Again, this enables the painter to make better use of her/his time. The problem, then, becomes stooping to pick up the paint tray and move it from place to place as the painting progresses. This puts significant strain on the lower back and risks a work-related injury.
The paint tray trolley of the present invention permits a worker to use her/his paint roller to push/pull the paint tray from place to place. The casters used on the trolley are robust enough to allow the trolley/tray to glide over drop cloths, carpeting, and other obstructions which may be on the floor.
The 1 gallon paint tray has a sloping bottom, two ends and two sides forming a contiguous peripheral wall, and two clips underlying the sloping bottom permitting the paint tray to be mounted upon a step of a ladder or, simply serving to level the top edge of the tray. The trolley of the present invention comprises a base underlying at least a portion of the conventional paint tray, the base having means to accommodate the two clips which are beneath the sloping bottom; two side walls extending upwardly from the base engaging the two sides of the paint tray to inhibit relative lateral motion between the trolley and the paint tray; front and back walls extending upwardly from the base contiguous with the two side walls, the front and back walls engaging the two end walls of the paint tray to inhibit relative longitudinal movement between the trolley and the paint tray; rotational support means beneath and attached to the base to permit the paint tray trolley to be moved from place to place without a need for the trolley to be picked up.
The paint tray trolley also includes upwardly extending flange means attached to one of the front and back walls, the flange means being engageable by a paint roller to facilitate manipulation of the paint tray trolley. The flange means has a slot formed between a first portion and a second portion to accommodate a handle of the paint roller.
The base of the paint tray trolley further includes a first downwardly sloping floor portion underlying at least a portion of the sloping bottom of the paint tray, the first downwardly sloping floor portion lying between two portions of the means to accommodate the two clips. Second and third auxiliary sloping floor portions lie laterally outwardly from the means to accommodate the two clips. The rotational support means is a plurality of wheels attached to a lower side of said base and, preferably, at least two of the plurality of wheels comprise casters capable of rotation about a generally vertical axis to facilitate lateral movement of said paint tray trolley. More preferably, there are four such wheels, all of which are casters.
Various other features, advantages and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art after a reading of the following specification.